Ington biggs



(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. H. W. BIGGS.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING SALT.

No. 247,598. V Patented Sept. 27,1881.

N. PETERS. Plmh-Lillwgmpher. washin mmn. c.

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. H. W. BIGGS.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING sALT.

Eli-g2 27, 1881.

Wfllllllllllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. BIGGS, OF LIVERPOOL, COUNTY OF LANCASTER, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING SALT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,598, dated September 27, 1881. 7' Application filed January 6,1881. (No model.) Patented in England April 4,1878

To all whom it may concern:

Be-it known that I, JOHN HOWARD WORTH- INGTON BIGGS, residing at Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, in the Kingdom of England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Salt, (for which I have received Letters Patent in Great Britain, No. 1,336, dated April 4, 1878;) and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of my invention is to provide cheap and simple apparatus for drying or removing the moisture from the salt-crystals in the course of its manufacture.

The invention consists in the application in a drier of a carrier-belt for use in the man ufaeture of salt, consisting of can vas treated with tannin also, in a novel construction and combination of parts with a belt drier, as hereinafter described, to effect elevation and distribution of the salt-crystals.

The belt drier and the centrifugal machine herein described and shown are embodied in an application filed by me on the 13th day of February, 1879, and still form portions of the complete apparatus necessary to the carrying out of the process therein described and claimed, and to that extent still constitute the subject-matter of said application; but no claim of noveltyis made therein to the construction of the drier.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the centrifugal machine and the belt drier and the attendant mechanism, a portion of the apparatus being shown in section to illustrate the interior construction. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the entire apparatus, to show the relation of the various parts to each other.

N represents the centrifugal drying-machine for partially desiceating the crystals until they will no longer cake on the belts of the belt drier, which is represented at P. The belt drier consists, essentially, of a closed frame or body containing a series of horizontal belts, 11, arranged one above another, and sustained at their ends, and also, if desired, at intermediate points, by transverse rolls mounted in the frame or body. The rolls at one end of the body are provided with outside pulleys and connected by a belt arranged in the manner shown, or in any other suitable manner, for the purpose of transmitting motion to the entire series of belts. The salt is received at the top of the machine, as hereinafter described, and is carried over the surface of the belts successively, each belt delivering at one end upon the receiving end of the next belt below, whereby the salt is carried back and forth through the body a great number of times before escaping at the base.

For the purpose of drying the salt-crystals as they pass through the belt drier the pipe K* is extended from a furnace, B, to the base of the belt drier to supply the same with heated air. Previous to the delivery of the salt-crystals into the belt drier they are partially desiccated in the centrifugal machine N, after which they are conducted by an elevator, O, to a chute, 0*, at the top of the belt drier. This chute will be provided with a valve by which the crystals may be directed into ascrew-pipe or other conductor to carry them to a blocking or compressing apparatus, or into a trough,P*, containing a right and left hand distributingscrew, p, as shown in Fig. 2. The screw p serves to distribute the salt across the entire top of the belt drier, into which it passes upon the receiving end of the uppermost belt or apron.

The bottom of the trough P will be provided With a feeding-roll provided with longitudinal grooves, or with pockets, to deliver the salt from the trough gradually into the drier; but as this roll constitutes no essential part of the present invention, and may be replaced by other ltlnown forms of feeding devices, it is not deemed necessary to describe its detailsherein.

For the purpose of insuring the deliveryjof the salt from one belt to the next, and to pre vent thecrystals from remainin g upon the belts,

stationary boards or scrapers p are arranged at one end of the belt drier, as shown in Fig. 1. Additional scrapers may also be used to loosen the salt from the belts, it' required. Suitable rakes or scrapers may be; also ar ranged to insure a distribution of the salt upon the surface of the belts, in order that the crystals may be fully exposed to the action of the heated air, but as these devices form no part of the present invention they are not shown herein.

The belts of the drier are preferably made of wire-gauze, or of canvas prepared with tannin or cutch to render them more durable and protect them from the injurious action of the salt. The belts may, however, be constructed of a series of plates connected to each other. The salt-crystals, beingfirst treated by the centrifugal machine and brought to such condition that they will not cohcre or cake fast upon the belts, are delivered into the belt drying apparatus, and, passing slowly through the same, are thoroughly dried and delivered at the base of the same in condition for use.

The various parts of the apparatus shown in the drawings other than those above described will be readily understood by reference to my original application referred to above.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. As an improvement in belt driers for the manufacture of salt, a canvas carrier belt or apron, constructed of canvas treated with tan- 111i].

2. In combination with the belt drier and the elevator, the feed-trough P provided with the distributing-screw p, substantially as shown.

JOHN HOWARD WOlt'lllING'l'ON BIGGS.

Witnesses:

WM. 1. THOMPSON, JOHN 0. OBRIEN. 

